by John Osborne
At a pause in their conversation, Janet turned her gaze upon Noah. Several seconds passed before he became aware she was watching him admire his fairy.
Caught.
A smile spread across the old woman’s features.
“Noah, it’s clear to me you are no friend of this pretty young woman.” Noah understood her meaning and blushed. A glance at Willow revealed the same reaction. Noah tried to stammer a reply, but fell silent when Janet raised her hand.
“Well, Willow,” Janet said, “this has been a wonderful time but I believe you came here for more than just reminiscing.”
“That’s true, Janet. Noah has been helping me investigate some questions surrounding the Big House and the disappearance of my parents. We’ve been exploring the property and the house but we’re at a dead end and thought perhaps you could help.”
The old woman’s gaze was solemn now. She nodded. “Willow, I’ll help any way I can. I’m only a Jones by marriage. I’m not like all of them, except my Anthony, of course. He wanted nothing to do with the whole lot. All he wanted was a quiet life of farming.” She shook her head and squeezed the tiny hand she held in hers. “Willow, your parents were good people. They were kind to everyone whether they deserved it or not. Your mother could have been a good friend if not for my connection to the Jones family. I regret I didn’t cultivate our relationship.”
Noah picked up the conversation. “Mrs. Jones, Willow and I have found something on the property near the Big House that we believe may have to do with her parents’ disappearance.” He stopped to see what reaction this statement evoked.
Janet was thoughtful for a few moments, and then her eyes gleamed and she spoke in a quiet voice. “You found the cave! Where did you find the entrance?” Willow glanced at Noah, excitement written on her features.
“We haven’t—yet,” Noah said. “We hoped you might help us with that part.”
Janet looked perplexed. “How do you know there’s a cave if you haven’t found the entrance?”
“Noah has some special abilities,” Willow said. “He’s a dowser. He dowsed the property around the house and found indications of some kind of subterranean structure. Based on the lay of the land he concluded it might be a cave.”
“A dowser? Like a water witch?” the old woman asked. Noah nodded. “You would fit right in with the Joneses. They loved folk magic and all that weird stuff.” Willow cast a satisfied glance at Noah. “So you can find a cave but not a way into it?”
“No,” Noah said. “There’s no apparent entrance on the grounds.”
Janet shook her head. “I never knew where the cave was, or how to enter it, but I was sure it was near the house. I don’t know what’s inside but I know it is evil. Anthony would turn white any time the place was mentioned. He went in just one time but that was enough for him.”
Willow spoke gently to the old woman. “Janet, I don’t wish to intrude into your private affairs, but does Chester know about the cave?”
At the mention of Chester’s name Janet flushed red and fire came to her eyes. She spoke through gritted teeth. “Yes, sad to say. Anthony told him before he died, just over a year ago. We had threatened Armstrong, Anthony’s father, within an inch of his life if he ever told Chester about it. I was sure he would tell him anyway, but for once, the old bastard kept his word. Why Anthony told him I don’t know. It was a few days before he died and he was losing his faculties, so perhaps it was just a slip. I guess he realized he said too much before he told him how to get to the cave. A month after Anthony died, Chester came to me and asked many of the same questions you’re asking.” She paused. “Have you caught Chester on the property?”
“Not exactly,” Willow said.
“You will. He wants what’s in that cave. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t been all over those woods searching.” She shook her head. “He’s such a fool. Like his grandfather.”
“Janet,” Noah said, “do you think it’s possible the cave entrance is somewhere in the house?”
Janet nodded. “Yes, I think it could be. I wasn’t ever sure what happened to him, but at times Armstrong would disappear for hours and then show up again out of nowhere. In winter, there would be no tracks in the snow but he was nowhere to be found. I must confess I spied after I found out about it, but I could never find anything. I asked Clarisse, that was Armstrong’s wife, about the cave, but she wouldn’t discuss it.” She bowed her head as her thoughts took her far away.
Noah stood up. “Mrs. Jones, you’ve been a tremendous help. We won’t bother you any longer. Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you, Janet,” Willow said. She leaned forward and gave her a hug. “I’ll come back to visit soon.”
“I would like that.”
Noah and Willow rose and walked toward the door.
“Willow,” Janet said, “may I ask you a question now?”
“Of course.”
“When you came to live here forty years ago I was in my early forties. I remember thinking what an attractive woman you were. You seemed about thirty-five years old.” Janet paused. Noah could feel anxiety build in Willow. Her face flushed. Janet continued “Now I’m a wrinkled old woman who uses a walker and yet you look the same.” She stopped and stared at Willow. Noah could imagine the tension sparking through the air between the two women. The old woman’s eyes flicked over to Noah’s.
I want to hear this answer, too.
Willow stood silent and stared the old woman down. After several seconds of standoff, Janet relented and let out a sigh.
“Maybe Noah found a fountain of youth in those woods with his dowsing sticks,” she said. “It was good to see you, Willow. Please come back.”
“I will,” Willow said.
Willow swept through the hallways. She walked several feet ahead of Noah, who struggled to keep up. As she turned the last corner to leave the building, she shrieked and stopped. She stood face to face with Chester Jones, whose expression of contempt and loathing matched hers. Tiny Willow’s neck was craned back to see Chester’s face, but she didn’t back away. Noah moved close behind her.
The fairy and the ogre glared at one another in silence for several seconds. Neither appeared willing to move from the other’s path. Jones’s usual smirk appeared as he gave Willow an up and down looking over.
Stop it!
“Mornin’, Willow,” he said. “What brings you here this fine day?”
“We came to visit your mother. You know she lives here, right?”
Jones’s face registered shock, and then annoyance. His voice rumbled with threat. “That’s none of your business. What do you want with her?”
“That’s none of your business,” Willow said. Noah couldn’t see her face but was sure she was smiling broadly.
Careful, Willow.
Jones quivered with anger and shook a finger in Willow’s face, punctuating his words. “Stay away from my mother!” The nurses at the nearby station looked up at the growing altercation.
Jones and Willow glowered at each other, neither giving ground.
“Get your fat ass out of my way, pervert,” Willow said. She tried to walk around Jones, but he blocked her path. She darted the other way, but he moved again. Willow clenched her hands into fists.
A demonic grin filled Jones’s face. “Care to dance?” he said.
Alright you son of a bitch…
A whirlpool of hatred and anger grabbed Noah and drowned his own feelings as a crescendo of Willow’s energy rang in his ears.
“Move!” she commanded in a deep, powerful voice that echoed down the corridor. At the same instant, Noah reached over Willow, intending to shove Jones out of the way, but the big man was already stumbling backward. He backed up several steps and leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
Noah seethed with anger and pushed past Willow. He drew back his right fist as he reached Jones. As he threw the punch, Willow’s iron grip froze his arm.
“Noah, stop,” she said quietly. “Don’t gi
ve him what he wants.”
Noah glared at Jones, who looked back and forth between Noah and Willow, bewildered.
I’m confused, too, Chester.
Noah let Willow pull him away to the opposite side of the hall. She led him to the door and outside.
Once in the open, Noah shook his head to clear it. “That was weird,” he said. He looked closely at Willow. “What was that with your voice? Were you controlling me?”
Willow’s face colored. “No, I was trying to get that fat ass to move. It’s a power that’s unique to the women in my family. I can pitch my voice to influence people’s thoughts. Sort of related to how fairies talk to animals, only it’s audible. It takes some concentration, so I don’t do it often.” She grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry you got caught up in it. I was aiming everything at Jones, but I guess you felt the backwash.”
“Backwash, hell. That was a tsunami.” Willow giggled.
Noah opened Willow’s door, but stood in the way of her getting in.
“You used that on me the first time I came to the cottage, didn’t you?”
Willow blushed a deeper shade. “Yes. I always use it on strange people knocking on my door, so they’ll go away.”
“I didn’t go away.”
Willow’s secret smile spread across her face. “Only because I let you stay.”
“I hope Chester doesn’t grill his mother too harshly,” Noah said. They were nearing the missing sign, where Noah would drop off Willow before leaving for work.
“I think Janet will hold her own,” Willow said. “And she won’t tell him why we were there, either, I’m sure of that.”
“He may figure it out on his own.” Noah rolled the truck to a stop. “So when you disappear it’s called blinking—no, winking, sorry. What do you call this thing you do with your voice?”
Willow hesitated, and then narrowed her eyes with threat. “Do not laugh, Noah Phelps.”
I’ll try. Maybe.
“What’s it called?”
“It’s called … hurling.”
Noah tried. He really did. For nearly a full second. Then he burst into hearty laughter, which ended only when Willow jolted him.
“I’m sorry,” Noah choked out in a high-pitched voice, still stifling laughter.
Willow’s face was cold. “No you’re not, smartass. Before the twenty-first century, hurling was used to describe throwing a weapon, not puking. I hurl my voice at someone, throw my thoughts toward them.”
“But the word just begs to be messed with. You could say you threw up your thoughts on Chester.” Noah started laughing again. “Surely I’m not the first one to see the humor in it.”
“Unlike you, Noah Phelps, most people show me some respect. I happen to be the only fairy in the world who has the hurling power.”
“Really? Wow.” Noah grew serious. “I really am sorry.”
Willow pursed her lips.
“Honest,” Noah said.
“Oh, alright. Kiss me and get out of here before I zap you again.”
Sixteen
“Willow, please get out of my head.”
Noah munched a Snickers bar while he leaned against an oak tree. He had struggled all day to concentrate on photography. Willow, the intrigue of their investigations and his initiation into crime dominated his thoughts.
I wonder what we’ll find at the Big House tonight.
Bright sun in October could not be ignored, however. He had ventured across the state line into Indiana, where the Wabash River and its broad valley, thirty miles from Hoopeston, presented many woodlands and ponds. Most of the day had been spent bumping along muddy farm roads to find treasures hidden away from most eyes.
He sighed and checked his watch. Two o’clock.
Better get back to it.
Noah arrived at the tree across the lane shortly before five o’clock. Halfway along the shortcut to the cottage, he began to feel flickers of Willow’s feelings. First, they were merely happiness, but they shifted to affection as he drew nearer the cottage.
Hope that’s intended for me.
Noah quickened his pace.
When he reached the clearing, she was walking along the path, hands in her back pockets.
Goodness, you are fun to look at.
“Hi Cowboy,” she said, and stretched up for a kiss. She tilted her head back, sniffing. “Hmm. You had a Snickers this afternoon. They’re my favorite.”
“Chocolate radar, huh?”
“Yep.” Willow’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You didn’t take one of mine, did you?”
“Do you mean from the box in your underwear drawer?”
Her eyes widened and her face flushed. “How did you know…”
Noah just smiled.
Her irritation flowed through him. She turned and strode to the door, Noah close behind. Once inside, she pounded up the stairs to the loft. Noah listened as she opened a drawer and fumbled through the contents. Soon it banged shut again. She came down the stairs, glared at him, and without a word, turned to the kitchen.
Supper was a wonderful vegetable soup made with breadcrumbs and hard-boiled eggs, something Noah had never imagined, served, of course, with fresh-baked bread. Noah ate two bowls and had a tussle with Willow over a third. She relented when he reminded her he was company. He ate slowly, savoring every spoonful as she watched enviously. After the first two bites, he shared with her, feeding her every other spoonful.
Between bites, Willow returned to what seemed to be her new favorite subject. “What are we going to do about Chester?”
“I don’t know that we can do anything. If we leave an anonymous tip with the police, they’ll ignore it. He’s a city council member, after all. If we tell them we have evidence they have to ask how we obtained it, which is uncomfortable, since we broke into his house to get it.”
“We didn’t break anything,” Willow said, “so it was just entering.”
“I’m sure the police will appreciate the difference.”
“I can trash his computer. When I finish with it the only thing it would be good for is filling a dumpster.”
“That would at least slow him down until he could get a new computer.” Noah thought for a moment. “How good are you at hacking?”
“Very good,” Willow said with an evil grin.
“You could mess with his credit rating and bank accounts and stuff.”
They ate in silence for a short time before Willow spoke again.
“Janet was a lot of help today,” she said.
Noah nodded. “Yes. We’re going the right direction. I almost think she would help us look for the cave entrance herself if she could.”
“She’s a kind woman. Too bad she got tied up with the Joneses.”
A few minutes after six, they arrived at the Big House. Willow stripped off her sweatshirt and handed it to Noah, revealing a white tube top. She lifted off the ground a few feet and floated before Noah. He could see her eyes twinkling even in the failing light.
“Would you like to ride up with me? It will save time.”
“No thanks,” Noah said. Willow laughed and zoomed away into the darkness. A minute later, she unbarred the door for Noah, still smirking. He threw her sweatshirt at her, which she caught and tied around her waist. He tossed her a flashlight as well.
“I think our best bet is to start on the first floor and work our way up,” Noah said. “We should concentrate on the south wall. Do you want to split up or stick together?”
“Definitely together.” She took his hand in hers and walked across the atrium toward the back of the house. Noah clicked on his flashlight.
You may be comfortable in complete darkness, but we mere humans aren’t.
Willow led him to the formal dining room in the southeast corner of the first floor. She flipped on the light as they entered. “By the way, just what are we looking for?”
“That’s the problem. We don’t know. I suppose there has to be a hidden door or hatch in the floor, or a wall p
anel that swings in or out.” He looked around the empty room. “There’s not much to search in here. It’s easy to see there’s no place to hide a passageway or a door. The floor is solid all along the south wall.” He ran his flashlight along the floor and wall. “Let’s move on to the kitchen.”
Willow snapped off the dining room light and then turned on the kitchen light as they entered. Tall storage cabinets lined the south wall, surrounding the one shuttered window. They checked the interior of each cabinet, especially the bottom shelves, which might conceal a trap door to the hollow wall below. Ten minutes of thorough inspection revealed nothing of interest. No unexplained joints or cracks in any wall or floor showed themselves.
They moved on to the pantry across the service hall, which doubled as the laundry room. Here a deep walk-in closet formed the south wall, lined with empty shelves, although the meticulous Willow kept them dusted. They spent a long time on hands and knees going over the floor and walls for any evidence of an opening or marks on a floor or wall indicating that a panel swung out. Little Willow crawled underneath the lowest shelves to make a close-up inspection, but found nothing.
“There has to be something,” Willow said.
“Not in this room.”
They turned off the lights and moved on to the game room that filled the southwest corner of the house. A huge oak bar, which would have been at home in any tavern, dominated the space. The south wall contained shelves and cabinets for liquor, and a small sink. Once again, they checked nooks and crannies. Willow climbed inside the cabinetry and crawled the full length to exit the opposite end.
“I’m glad I brought you along,” Noah said.
“Small size is handy sometimes.” She smiled up at him.
“Oh, that’s good, too. I was referring to the great view when you’re on your hands and knees.”
“You’re hopeless.”
They checked along the remainder of the south wall to no avail.
“Would your dowsing rods help?” Willow asked.