Carlene Thompson

  Suddenly Caroline noticed that Lucy looked unnaturally pale and she was distant, frozen-faced. Maybe hearing all this on top of finding out about Pamela's gruesome murder was too much for her. Lucy liked to appear much tougher than she really was. Only Caroline, and possibly Tom, seemed to realize that beneath the flashy exterior was a fragile being.

  "Why don't you come downstairs and have a cup of coffee before you go back to the store?"

  Lucy smiled faintly. "Thanks, but I really should be going. I've already been longer than I told Tina I would be."

  After she left, Caroline went into the kitchen to make coffee. Melinda had come inside and was in earnest conversation with Aurora when she returned to the kitchen. Telling her mother that plants liked to have people talk to them, she went on unselfconsciously explaining to the pot of dirt about magnifying glasses and footprints and Nancy Drew as Caroline sat at the table, staring out over the brilliant chrysanthemum bed. When the phone rang, Melinda ran to answer it.

  "It's for me," she said importantly as Caroline automatically reached for the receiver. "A friend."

  "Oh, pardon me," Caroline laughed. While she drank a cup of strong, black coffee and idly sketched a flower design for the elaborate tablecloth and napkins Lucy had commissioned, Melinda giggled and chattered delightedly on the phone for twenty minutes. When she hung up, she announced, "That was my new best friend."

  "Your new best friend," Caroline said. "What about Jenny?"

  "She's okay, but yesterday she made fun of Aurora, and it hurt her feelings. I don't want a best friend who's mean to plants."

  "I wouldn't either. Is your new best friend in your class?"

  "No, she's younger than me. I met her last night when I was out trick-or-treating. She came up right after Greg and me left the house and told me how much she liked my costume. She stayed with us for a little while, then she went off by herself. She had on a really neat costume, too. She was dressed like a clown."

  Caroline sloshed hot coffee on her hand but ignored it. Slowly she asked, "What is this little girl's name?"

  "Hayley."

  Chapter 5

  CAROLINE JUMPED UP from the table. "Hayley? Hayley who?"

  Melinda looked at her with big green eyes. "I don't remember her last name."

  "Corday?"

  "Maybe. I'm not sure."

  "Well, think!"

  Melinda's face puckered and she realized she was scaring the child. Caroline stooped to enfold her in her arms. "I'm sorry, honey. It's just important that you remember everything you can about your new friend."

  "Why? She's just a kid, like me, only littler."

  Caroline sat back on her heels and tried to smile. "I saw a child last night who looked like a little girl I knew a long time ago named Hayley. It must be the girl you met last night."

  Melinda looked confused. "But Mommy, she couldn't be the little girl you knew a long time ago."

  "Why not?"

  "Because she wouldn't be a little girl anymore."

  "Well, you've got me there, kid. Okay, it couldn't be the same little girl. But I'd like to meet your friend anyway."

  Melinda brightened. "Then I'll ask if she can come over and play sometime."

  "Good. Do you know where she lives or her phone number?"

  "Nope. All I know is that she lives somewhere in the woods in a log cabin."

  Caroline tensed but tried to keep her voice casual. "Did Hayley tell you anything about her parents?"

  Melinda's eyes wandered around the room as she thought. "She said her daddy paints pictures. I guess she meant he was an artist," she explained with a forbearing smile at her young friend's limited vocabulary.

  "An artist." Caroline's heart hammered. "What about her mommy?"

  Melinda tugged on a long chestnut curl, furrowing her brow. "I don't think she said anything about her mommy. No, I'm sure she didn't. But I told her about you."

  "What did you say?"

  Melinda smiled sweetly. "That you're real pretty and sew a lot. She said you sounded nice."

  "That's all?"

  "Yep. Can I go watch Guiding Light now?"

  Caroline longed to question the child further, but she didn't want to frighten her. She smiled. "Sure, baby. Later you can tell me everything that happened on the show."

  Caroline sat down heavily on one of the kitchen chairs. Could all this be some kind of horrible joke?

  Mommy, I need you. Caroline could hear the voice in Lucy's storeroom. Hayley's voice. She put her head in her hands, remembering the months after Hayley died when shock and denial made her think she saw Hayley everywhere. Heard her voice. Knew she was alive.

  "But this is different," she said aloud. "Before I never found Hayley's doll. My little girl never received a call from a child named Hayley who lives in a log cabin and has an artist father." She sighed. "Or rather claims to be named Hayley and live in a cabin. I have to be rational about this. But why would anyone put up a child to doing that?"

  When Greg got in from school half an hour later, Caroline pounced. "Did you meet a little girl in a clown suit last night?"

  He went like a heat-seeking missile for a platter of grapes, firing about five into his mouth while looking puzzled. Finally he nodded. "Oh, yeah, there was a kid. Well, I didn't really meet her. She came up and started talking to Lin."

  "What did she look like?"

  "I don't know. She had on a costume and makeup. She was shorter than Lin, so I guess she was younger. They chattered like crazy, but I wasn't listening." He consumed more grapes, gazing at her quizzically. "What's the deal?"

  Caroline hesitated, not knowing how he would react if she told him the truth. Unlike his father, he had a tendency to be hotheaded. If he took her seriously, he might go storming off in search of the little girl. No, she would downplay the problem for now. If it persisted, she would tell him the truth.

  "It's just that Melinda seemed so taken with this little girl and wanted to invite her over, but she doesn't have any information about her. I thought you might know something."

  Greg's dark eyes regarded her skeptically. "Mom, you're terrible at lying. Want to tell me what's really going on?"

  "No. Not now."

  "Okay." He pitched the naked grape stem all the way across the kitchen and hit the wastebasket. "I'm ready to listen when you're ready to talk."

  Caroline was still smiling as he ambled out of the room and the phone rang. Abruptly her smile faded. Could it be the little girl again? Would she speak if Caroline answered the phone?

  Her hand shook slightly as she picked up the receiver. She paused before saying hello, and David snapped, "Melinda, are you playing with the phone?"

  "No, David, it's me," Caroline said, letting out her breath.

  "Why didn't you say anything?"

  "I was…"

  I was what? she thought. Afraid you were Hayley?

  "What's wrong?" she asked quickly, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "Why are you calling?"

  David seemed too distracted to notice she hadn't answered his question. "I've had a hell of a day, and I'm going to be late. Don't expect me before six-thirty."

  Caroline glanced at the big kitchen clock above the counter. 3:50. That would give her plenty of time to fix a special dinner to put him in a better mood. "We'll see you then. If you're going to be later, will you call?"

  "If I can." His voice softened slightly. "How're you feeling today? Still upset?"

  "We'll talk about it this evening. See you later."

  She went into the family room where Greg was surreptitiously watching Guiding Light with Melinda while pretending to read Omni. "Kids, your dad's going to be late. Do you want to eat at the regular time or wait and eat with him?"

  "Wait for Daddy!" Melinda piped, too engrossed to look at her.

  Greg made a great show of glancing up from his magazine. "Yeah, we'll wait."

  But by 7:15 when the stuffed pork chops were turning hard, the baked apples mushy, and the green bean
s flabby while the kids prowled around the kitchen like starving wolves circling a campfire, they decided to go ahead without David.

  "I've probably never been this hungry for five years," Melinda announced, drowning her tossed salad in French dressing. "How about you, Greg?"

  "It's been six or seven for me." He smothered a grin. "Mom, you ever been this hungry?"

  "I believe one day when I was a senior in high school I was just about this hungry."

  Melinda looked interested. "Did you forget your lunch?"

  "No, I was on a diet. I believed what the Duchess of Windsor said, that you can never be too rich or too thin."

  Greg dug into his apples. "Who's the Duchess of Windsor?"

  "Princess Di's sister," Melinda said witheringly. "Don't you know anything?"

  Caroline smiled. "No, honey, she was married to the Duke of Windsor, who used to be King of England. He gave up the throne so he could marry her."

  "Wow." Melinda was impressed. "Why couldn't he be king anymore?"

  "Because Wallis Simpson the Duchess of Windsor was a commoner."

  "You mean like a pheasant?"

  Greg roared with laughter. "That's peasant, squirt."

  Melinda glared at him, then turned back to Caroline. "Sleeping Beauty was a peasant, and she got to marry the prince."

  "Well, that's just a story, punkin. Life isn't always like the fairy tales."

  "Hayley likes fairy tales," Melinda volunteered, pushing green beans under her pork chop bone where she thought Caroline wouldn't see them.

  Greg's eating slowed when Melinda said "Hayley," and although he didn't look up, Caroline could tell he was listening intently. After all, there weren't many little girls named Hayley.

  "What's her favorite story?" Caroline asked casually.

  "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Only she says warts."

  Melinda giggled delightedly as Caroline's blood turned cold. "Daddy, will you read to me about the Seven Warts?" she could hear Hayley asking Chris. "Who's your favorite? Mine's Droopy. He's the sweetest and saddest."

  Caroline's fork hovered between her mouth and her plate. "Does Hayley have a favorite dwarf?"

  "I don't know. I'll ask her." Melinda looked at her brightly. "I cleaned up my plate. Is there any dessert?"

  "Cheesecake. In the refrigerator."

  "Oh, goody!" Melinda dashed across the kitchen to fling open the refrigerator door. Finally Greg's eyes met Caroline's. She would have to explain the situation to him after Melinda went to bed. "It's got cherries on top! Want some, Greg?"

  "I'll get it, squirt. You'll drop it."

  "I will not!" But Melinda stood aside as Greg pulled the dessert from the shelf and began cutting slices. "Three great big ones," Melinda directed.

  "Not for me," Caroline said thickly. "I'll have mine later with Daddy."

  She got up and poured a cup of coffee while the children ate. A child dressed like Twinkle and talking about Snow White and the Seven Warts. Even if someone were playing a sick joke, how would they know about Hayley's mispronunciation of dwarfs? Her hands had begun to tremble by the time Melinda and Greg had finished their cheesecake, and she let them escape back to the television without even asking if they had homework. For once she was too distracted to care.

  By the time David arrived at eight, the food was ruined and nerves had turned her aggressive and peevish. "Why the hell didn't you call? Dinner's a mess."

  David threw her a startled glance as he hung his coat on the coat tree. "I ran into problems. Almost lost a mother, in fact."

  Chastened, Caroline said, "I'm sorry. I guess I should have put everything away earlier so I could heat it up when you got in.".

  David came over and put his arm around her. "I'm not hungry anyway. What I'd really like is a very large Scotch and water."

  "There's cheesecake."

  "Some of that, too."

  "Cheesecake and Scotch? Now there's a combination."

  He laughed. "Forget the Scotch. I might get called out again tonight. Make it cheesecake and coffee."

  "Coming right up. Have a seat." While she put on a fresh pot of coffee and sliced cake, she said, "So the mother pulled through all right?"

  "Barely. The foolish thing was seven months pregnant and up on a ladder cleaning windows. She toppled off and fell on a shovel standing nearby."

  "My God! And the baby?"

  David shook his head. "Gone. It was a girl. A perfect little girl."

  "Oh, David, I'm so sorry." Caroline set the cake in front of him, noticing that he looked tired enough to fall down.

  "By the way," he said, lifting a cherry onto his fork, "wasn't it Pamela Burke you and Lucy went up to see the other day?"

  "Yes. I suppose you heard about her death."

  "This is great, honey. Yeah, I heard some bizarre story about Pamela being found in a burning house with her throat cut."

  "It's true. Tom's on the case. She was murdered."

  "Horrible."

  "Something else horrible happened today. Melinda got a call from a little girl she met last night, a little girl who was dressed for Halloween in a clown suit."

  David raised his eyebrows. "You think it was the kid who was here?"

  "I'm sure of it. David, she told Melinda her name is Hayley, she lives in a log cabin, and her father is an artist."

  David laid down his fork. "What the hell?"

  "And she said her favorite fairy tale is Snow White and the Seven Warts. That's what Hayley always said—warts instead of dwarfs."

  David took a deep breath. "This is getting very strange."

  "I know. David, I'm scared, especially since Twinkle is gone from my closet."

  David looked uncomfortable. "Caroline, that's my fault. I threw it away."

  "Why?"

  "It's impossible that the doll was Hayley's. I thought it was some stupid trick of Fidelia's."

  "But why throw it away?"

  "I don't know. You kept clutching at it. You seemed terrified of it and possessive of it at the same time. I was worried about you."

  Caroline sat back in her chair. "You thought I was going off the deep end again, right?"

  David laid down his fork. "You've been going on and on about Hayley for days."

  "I haven't been going on and on about Hayley. I've been telling you what's been happening. You can't deny someone broke in here and put Twinkle on Melinda's bed."

  "I saw a broken window and a clown doll, yes."

  Caroline stared at him. "That was very carefully worded. What are you suggesting that I broke the window and put a clown doll on Melinda's bed?"

  "I didn't say anything like that."

  "But you implied it."

  "No, I didn't. What's gotten into you?"

  "I want to know where you think that doll came from. And don't say Fidelia."

  "How can I give you an honest answer if you tell me what I'm allowed to say?" David sighed in irritation. "I don't want to argue with you."

  "Well, I want to argue with you." Caroline could feel her cheeks getting hot with her anger. "I suppose Fidelia hired a child to come up and talk to Melinda about living in a log cabin and having an artist for a father, too. Or maybe you think I made that up."

  "I think I'd like that Scotch after all," David said, getting up and going to the kitchen cabinet where they kept the liquor.

  "What did you do with Twinkle? Excuse me, I mean the anonymous clown doll."

  "The trash was being collected the next morning." David rattled ice into a glass. "After you went to sleep I got the doll out of the hatbox and put it out on the street with the rest of the garbage."

  "Great."

  "I'm sorry. If I'd known you were going to get this worked up, I'd never have touched it." David sat down at the table again, his expression grave. "Caroline, I'm not saying you're making things up, or that there's nothing going on. There is. But you have to remember how many people thought either you or Chris had murdered Hayley. Even the police were suspicious at first. O
f course, they always look to the parents first when a child disappears. They soon realized they were wrong. But probably a lot of cranks out there never stopped believing it."

  I know you killed your little girl. Caroline could still hear the hateful voices of women who approached her in the grocery store, a filling station attendant, an old man who had come to their door. There had been letters. Why did you do it? What did it feel like to cut off a child's head? And by the way, where is her head? But the phone calls had been the worst. Dozens of them until at last Chris had the phone removed. Lacy told her that to this day he still wouldn't have a phone in his house.

  Caroline clasped her hands on the table. "David, it was so long ago. Why, after nineteen years, would all this start out of the blue? And who could know so much about Hayley? Certainly not Fidelia."

  "Fidelia knows people who knew you and Chris, and I think she's a kook not one bit above stirring up trouble just to see what happens."

  "I don't know what she's ever done to make you think that."

  "I don't know what she's ever done to make you believe in her so much. I'd think after your past experiences with people, you'd be a little less trusting."

  Caroline looked at him. He was right, of course. Many years ago the dark side of human nature had shattered her world. She had no reason to trust anyone, especially a woman she'd known for only a year.

  David reached over to cover Caroline's hands with one of his own. "We'll get to the bottom of this, honey. I promise."

  Caroline tried to smile back, wondering why for once David's calm reassurances didn't make her feel any better.

  Chapter 6

  THE NEXT MORNING David got an early call and after downing a quick cup of coffee was gone by 7:30. Caroline fixed the kids French toast and sausage for breakfast, then drove Melinda to school. When the child climbed from the car, Caroline impulsively said, "Honey, if you see Hayley today, get her full name and address, but don't go anywhere with her."

  Melinda's eyes widened in mild surprise. "I've never seen Hayley here at school."

  "How would you know? She was wearing her clown makeup the night you met her."

  "Oh, yeah, I forgot. But she's never come up to talk to me. She was only a little girl, Mommy. Maybe she doesn't go to school yet."