Then, she stood up and straightened out her aching back. Where was the spirit?
When she spotted him across the room, she had to blink and rub her eyes. Was that really him? She stared at the fellow by the front windows wearing a mocha-colored tweed suit with a jaunty cap. He looked completely mortal. His skin was flush with color and looked as dewy as an infant’s. And, there was a fresh growth of dark hair along his jaw—the beginnings of a stylish beard that eclipsed his former goatee. If she hadn’t known who...what...he was, she would think that he made a handsome picture instead of a wolf in gentleman’s clothing.
He seemed to be flirting with a young woman as he gestured towards Georgia’s paintings like he was boasting of them, almost as if they were his own. Opal thought his ease with so many mortals in such close quarters revealed a confidence that had grown exponentially since the Halloween carnival.
Oh, Lord...what was this devil up to?
A sickening feeling overcame her. It was the sensation of a thousand worms writhing up her backside. The fine gray hairs on the back of her neck turned into sewing needles, and her heart raced so fast, she put her hand over it.
She remembered Aunt Grace’s words, “You will have unleashed a serial killer on Calathia, and he may eventually take every life in that town to maintain himself”. At that moment, she knew for sure that this party was not all of Georgia’s doing. Grace’s premonition had already begun to come to fruition. Where else could the spirit find so many people together? There must be a least a hundred people between the two floors and those milling about out front. Did he mean to kill them all?
If that was his plan...she had little time to waste. She imagined a pile of bodies already stacked up in the basement.
At that moment, as if he sensed her presence, he swiveled around and looked directly at her. For less than a second, a scowl interrupted his high-spirited discourse. Like a blast of lightning, his green eyes sparked...blinding her for a moment as if she had been caught in a camera’s flash. No one else in the room seemed to notice the brief brilliance except her.
She left her leafy camouflage and mingled into the crowd to hide from his gaze.
Things were even more complicated now that he had seen her. Would he come after her? She felt somewhat safe as long as she was surrounded by people, but she imagined that she would be in grave danger if she ventured into an empty room or went back outside alone.
Where was Karl? He had to be here somewhere. Without him, the whole evening might be wasted...and downright dangerous.
Chapter 79
Georgia laughed as a gallery owner from Manhattan asked her where she got all of the fairy and elf models to pose for her paintings. “I keep them locked up in the shed out back. I just feed them a little cream and sugar now and then to keep them willing subjects.” Then, she explained about her childhood daydreaming out by the pile of Rustenstuff where she conjured up many of the creatures on her sketchpad.
“You don’t really believe in all that stuff, do you?” asked MaryFendali, a passionate collector from upstate.
She grinned and thought for a moment. “When I was a kid, my grandfather Blake grew corn in the field behind the house. My sister and I used to chase each other through the tall stalks, and there were times that I got lost out there. With the wind blowing through the tassels and whipping the leaves around, it was easy to imagine supernatural beings living in the corn and watching you.”
“Yes...but children have—”
“As adults, our lives are so busy...we miss so much. Walk around the Wall Street area late at night. Look up at some of the gargoyles and other figures on the buildings and tell me you don’t think you’re being watched.”
The woman smirked instead of throwing out a comeback.
Georgia flinched as an arm encircled her waist. She turned and found Daniel nuzzled against her. “How long have you been behind me?”
“I ducked behind the corn rows of people. My supernatural eyes have been watching you.”
She laughed so hard that it turned into a snort. “Mary...have you met Daniel?”
“Briefly...at the door.”
He stepped out from behind her and took Mary’s bejeweled hand. “Bon giorno, Signora,” he said as he planted his lips on it with the aplomb of a European count.
“You’re such a flirt!” Georgia said.
He released the woman’s hand, leaned over, and then planted a soft wet kiss on the nape of her neck. “Maybe...but, I only have eyes for you.”
She giggled as the tickling sensation, the wine, and the adrenaline from the party made her head feel like it was floating. Heaven...she must be in Heaven. This was the most wonderful night of her life.
She leaned into him and said, “Thank you for talking me into this. I never thought this party would be such a success. So many people showed up...I can’t believe it. I’ve already sold several pieces.”
He wrapped his arms around her again and pressed against her with his lean, strong body. “You’re worth it, mio caro.”
She felt the warmth of his lips pressed against her ear and smelled the nostalgic scent of damp earth and roses. For some reason, this time...it reminded her of her grandmother. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
He whispered in her ear, “Don’t forget...I still have a surprise for you.”
She raised her chin and looked up into his eyes, curious, and hoping for some clue. But, none was there as he returned his attention to the conversation of the guests around them.
For a second, she thought that she had seen a brilliant flash of light, a glittering golden supernova bursting from the pupils of his eyes...but she wrote it off as the sparks from her inebriated giddy mind.
Chapter 80
Opal spotted Karl near the fireplace. Leaning back against the thick wood mantle, he looked as content as any other partygoer with a beer in his hand and a wide grin as he talked with a man in a sleek pewter gray suit. In contrast, her son had on another one of his dated fuzzy sweaters and a brown leather jacket with a pair of jeans and boots.
At least he’s wearing digging clothes.
She adjusted the brim of her black felt hat over her eyes to disguise her identity, then made her way across the room.
“Evening, gentlemen.”
“Mother...” Karl said. “I thought I told you—”
“Please excuse us for a moment,” she said as she pulled on the sleeve of his jacket and looked up apologetically at the man across from him.
“What are you doing?”
She pulled him into a corner of the room and handed him a small white confection from a silver platter as if that was her sole purpose in taking him away from his conversation. “Have you seen him?”
“Yes. He opened the door for me and gave me a strange look as he let me in. But, it was more like a what are you doing here...stay away from my woman sort of look rather than an evil I want to kill you look.”
“Isn’t it obvious that he’s the walking dead?”
“No...he looks as real as you or me. I’m starting to wonder if I was hallucinating that day I chased him and...maybe you’re wrong about—”
“Damnit, Karl! We’ve been through all this. Whether you believe he’s real or not, he’s the bastard that’s been killing all these folks around here. If I thought you could hold him, I’d tell you to haul him off right now. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.”
He lifted up his sweater and showed her the gun in his holster. “Ghost or not, if I had proof that he was the murderer...I would arrest him.”
“That gun’s not going to do you a lick of good. He’s already dead! Come on...it’s getting late. We should get to work.”
“What?”
She tugged on him again. “Follow me...I’m going to need your brawn.”
He stood his ground. “I’m not going to—”
“Come with me now, or I’m going to make a scene. I swear to God I’ll end this party right this minute.”
“You’re bluf
fing, Ma. Please just leave before Georgia—”
She put a hand up to her forehead and fanned her face with the other. “I’m starting to feel a little weak. I think I’m going to faint. Maybe, I’ll scream as I fall.”
He grabbed her by the elbow. “Don’t. Please don’t.”
“Come with me, then. Let me just show you what I’ve been talking about.”
He sighed, set his beer down, and grabbed another handful of confections. Then, he followed her as she tiptoed through the throng towards the back door.
Back at the doormat, she pulled on her boots and motioned for him to follow her outside.
Powdery snowflakes fell on their heads and shoulders as they stood on the patio. She pulled a pair of heavy suede gloves from her coat pocket.
“Haven’t you got any gloves?”
“No.”
She shook her head as she unzipped her duffle bag, pulled out a flashlight, and turned it on. Then, she closed the bag and handed it to him as she stepped onto the path. “This way.”
He grunted as he slung the strap over his shoulder. “What’s in this? Rocks?”
She didn’t answer. Her mind was too absorbed with her mission. With a begrudging slowness, he followed her around the curve and down the path as it snaked further away from the house.
When they rounded the second bend, she saw the wrought-iron arbor entwined with dormant rose vines. She stopped underneath it and panned her flashlight ahead. The stone fountain was covered in snow, looking like a giant tiered wedding cake dusted in powdered sugar. “This is it,” she said, shuddering as she remembered again that it was the very one she’d drowned in during her nightmare in the bathtub.
“Now what?” he asked as they reached the fountain, and he dropped the bag.
“Now...we dig.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. The ground is frozen. It would take forever.”
His mouth hung open as she rolled her eyes up at the glow of the silver moon through the clouds. She leaned down and unzipped the bag, pulling out a heavy metal canister.
“What’s that?” he asked as he brushed flakes of snow from his head and shivered.
“A blow torch,” she said as she laid it at his feet and reached back in the bag for the shovel.
“This is insane.”
“The bones of that devil are underneath. I have to destroy them to get rid of him.”
“You really don’t expect me to—”
“For God’s sake, Karl. I’ll do it myself if I have to!” When he stood there without moving, she dropped the flashlight to the ground and thrust the shovel at the hard white ground near the base of the fountain. The blade went down an inch into the snow, then struck frozen earth as hard as steel. She cried out in despair.
“Give me that,” he said, yanking the handle out of her hands. He plunged the shovel towards the cold earth, biting into it a few inches further. “I sure the hell hope you know what you’re doing. This isn’t going to be easy.”
Opal held her hands up in front of her face and breathed warm air onto them as she wrung her cold fingers together. “Hurry, Karl. I don’t know how much time we have. He’s going to try to kill everyone here tonight. I’m sure of it.”
Chapter 81
Georgia steadied herself against the edge of the kitchen counter. For a moment, it felt like the room had begun to spin like a carousel.
She wasn’t sure how many drinks she had had since the evening started. Each time she set her empty glass down, an invisible hand seemed to appear out of nowhere with another drink. She had sipped and laughed and mingled...having such a grand time that it never occurred to her that she had drank too much.
The last few hours had been spent flitting about from guest to guest, though there was no need to work the room. They came to her, showering her with compliments. But now, she’d had her fill. All the drinks and the Yellow Brick had made her dizzy and tired.
“I just love the way you use those feathery brush strokes to impart a surreal feeling to your work.”
She looked up at the man with an extraordinarily white veneered grin and tried to remember his name. Then, she nodded, gave him The Smile. “Excuse me...”
There was only one bathroom in the house. It was upstairs, and seemed miles away as she clutched her stomach and tried to make her way through the crowd.
When she reached it, there was a line of people stretching down the hallway. She mumbled apologies and said she wasn’t feeling too well then barged her way to the front.
Inside, she locked the door behind her and leaned over the sink, feeling miserably sick.
She wondered where Daniel was. She hadn’t seen him in a while. He’s probably making the rounds, using his charm to make sales for me.
After a couple minutes hunched over the sink, she decided that she wasn’t going to throw up and glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight. How had so much time passed without her realizing it?
After resting for another moment and hearing someone pounding on the door, she splashed cold water on her face. Then, she rummaged through the medicine cabinet until she found some antacids. She wished Daniel had thought to provide some coffee. All these inebriated guests were going to have to fumble their way back into town and find their rooms at the Calathia Inn or wherever they had booked their stay for the night.
A few moments later, she made her way back down the hall towards the staircase.
“Ten minutes to midnight,” someone yelled like the town crier.
The volume of the voices in the room gradually lowered. Someone cranked up the television volume, so they could hear the countdown in Times Square.
Then, she heard the sound of a spoon clanking on glass. “Attenzione! Attenzione!”
“Daniel...what are you doing?” she whispered she reached his side and saw that he was hiding something behind his back under his jacket.
After a few moments, the room became silent and all eyes turned toward them.
“Shhh...” he said with a wink.
There was an excruciating pause as murmurs of speculation circled the room.
Then, he reached behind his back and procured a bouquet of flowers. “A gift for our lovely hostess and artista.”
Dominated by sanguine red blooms, it was a strange mixture of red carnations and roses, calla lilies, dill, spider flowers, witch hazel, and crimson poppies, wrapped in black tulle.
There was something both Victorian and Gothic about the bouquet that struck her as odd. She wondered if there were any meanings behind his unusual choices, having once heard that there were standard meanings given to each flower type and color. Red roses, of course, meant ‘I love you’, witch hazel symbolized spells, and dill hinted at lust.
Her stomach gurgled and she felt the room sway back and forth like a boat on choppy seas. As she tried to regain her composure, she guessed that the bouquet must be the surprise he had mentioned earlier. But now, she worried that he was about to embarrass her by thanking all of the guests for traveling so far and then announcing that she was truly the greatest artist since Picasso.
Aware of the dozens of pair of eyes upon her, she put aside her misgivings and took the flowers from his outstretched hand.
To her surprise...he knelt down in front of her and took her other hand in his.
“Georgia...my dear bellezza, it has been a very short time since we were first acquainted...yet...I feel in my heart that we have known each other for years upon years. Together, I know that we would could so happy.”
She gasped as he procured a ring from his pocket. The large round smoky gemstone sparkled on top of the gold band. The style was simple but exquisite, clearly of an antique vintage.
From several feet away, she heard her nephew, StevieHayden, shout, “The Black Diamond!” Then, she saw him elbow his way closer. But, no one seemed to notice as they remained fixed on the action at center stage.
“Georgia...” Daniel said as his face beamed with radiance and he held out the ring,
“I would be honored if you would be my wife.”
She felt the air rush out of her lungs as the crowd waited for her reaction. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, she clasped the bouquet to her breast with one hand and covered her cheek with the other. “Daniel...I...don’t know what to say. This is so unexpected.”
He took the hand from her chest and slid the ring onto her finger. “Say...yes. Say that you have been as happy as I have these last few months. Is it not love that has inspired your creativity in all of these paintings?”
She fumbled for the right words as she took her hand back and looked down at the ring. She was in the spotlight and realized that there was nothing she could say that would be appropriate at this moment. So, the words just tumbled out. “Daniel...I’m sorry. But, I’m really not ready for this. It hasn’t been that long since my divorce...I just don’t think...”
His buoyant expression faded. She hated to see him look so dejected and wished that she could get him somewhere alone and tell him how much she cared about him and adored him...but that she just wasn’t ready for such a commitment.
His next words were charred with blackness. “Are you telling me no? After all I’ve done for you?” He cocked his head sideways, and she watched in horror as the beautiful green hue of his eyes changed to pitch black. Then, they collapsed into a chasm of darkness that seemed to swallow all of the brilliant light in the room.
“Daniel?” she whispered. “Please...I...”
“I was hoping that the apple fell further from the tree, but it seems that you have no more appreciation for true love than someone I once knew long ago.”
The crowd sucked in its breath, enraptured with the drama enfolding before them.
FredBirman stepped up from behind them and grabbed Daniel’s arm, “Now see here...”
Daniel flung his arm back and knocked him to the floor.
“Fred!” Georgia and Annie yelled in unison.
As she took a step towards Fred’s crumpled form, Georgia felt an unnatural spasm in her heart. Then, her left arm went numb. Oh God...am I having a heart attack? She hunched over, frozen with pain.
The Gardener Page 33