by Reid, Terri
Delphine waved her arm and several old whiskey barrels rolled across the room, separating Eloise from Paul.
“You will not get what you want until I see for myself that he’s fine.”
“Oh, I think I will,” Delphine answered. Once again, she waved her arm and the staircase above them started to creak. “It would be such a shame to have an entire staircase fall on your dear Jean-Paul.”
Eloise turned on Delphine. “But I have to see to him, he’s hurt. I have to help him.”
Delphine shook her head and smiled wickedly. “You have helped him, my dear. You have given him his life.”
Delphine glided past her to the staircase. Eloise turned back to Paul and saw Maria hovering near him. Maria smiled and nodded to Eloise, and then she motioned Eloise to follow Delphine. Eloise felt relief course through her – Maria would protect Paul. She could concentrate on getting rid of Delphine.
Delphine led Eloise up the stairs and through the house. They walked through the house and out to SUV. Eloise opened the rear door, pulled out the synthesizer and speakers and set them up on the porch of the plantation. Then she hefted the portable generator out and set it up too. She attached the cables and wires and switched on the synthesizer.
She noted that the switches were still set for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was tempted to blast it out to see what Delphine’s reaction would be. But before she could turn up the switch, Delphine hovered over to her and whispered menacingly in her ear, “I will wait and see how this machine of yours works. If it does not perform satisfactorily, I will kill your Jean-Paul and his death will not be an easy one.”
Eloise set the switches to whale songs and increased the volume to the full. Then she stepped back and, with a heavy heart, waited for the spirits to walk into Delphine’s trap.
The Humvee, containing Sally and Turner, pulled up to the clearing where the carriage house used to be.
“This is a good spot,” Sally said, smiling at Turner. “Close enough to be useful, far enough to stay hidden.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They got out of the vehicle and they could hear the whale song.
“What the heck is that?” Sally asked, moving to the edge of the wood.
“That’s sounds like Ms. Parker’s synthesizer, ma’am,” Turner said, “She used it when she was trying to gather the spirits in that small town.”
“Why would she be using it now?” Sally wondered aloud, “She wasn’t supposed to be calling the spirits until after she was able to get rid of Yemanja.”
“Sounds like things aren’t going according to plan, ma’am,” Turner said,
Sally nodded, “And it looks like it’s a good thing we decided to follow them.”
Turner shook his head, “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but we didn’t follow them. We are supplying them with needed equipment.”
Sally grinned. “And now, let’s bring that supply down to the plantation.”
They found the narrow path through the woods and followed it in the direction of the house.
Slowly, but steadily, they started to arrive. Eloise watched as a small group of spirits came out from the grove of pecan trees. They were walking together, but they weren’t communicating with each other. Instead, they seemed to be in a trance-like state, gazing all in all directions. Soon, there were spirits coming from every corner of the plantation descending on the lawn in front of the house. Eloise watched in dismay as she counted hundreds of spirits gathering together.
Delphine was ecstatic! “Yes! Yes!” she cried, “The power of all of these spirits will be mine.”
Suddenly, Delphine looked up at the midday sky and cried, “It’s time, I must hurry.”
She glided away in the direction of the bayou.
Eloise waited a few moments, then ran to the SUV and pulled out the things that Mary Margaret had given here to summon Agwe.
She put the things in a backpack and followed the direction that Delphine had taken, toward the bayou.
Chapter Twenty-six
Sally and Turner moved beyond the grove of willow trees and looked around the lawn.
“Look,” Sally whispered, “There’s Eloise heading toward the bayou. I think we ought to follow her.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Turner agreed.
Eloise moved stealthily toward the brush on the rise before the beach area. She knelt behind some dense bushes and saw Delphine create a small altar at the far eastern side of the little peninsula. Delphine placed blue-glass bottles on the altar next to a primitive drum lying on the ground next to her. Eloise knew that she shouldn’t try and interrupt Delphine because Paul’s life hung in the balance. Instead, she was going to have to summon Agwe and deal with the consequences of a sacrifice once it presented itself.
Eloise moved around to the west side of the beach, hidden by a small rise and more brush. She walked to the edge of the land and found a large flat rock. She brushed the dirt and vegetation off the rock and knelt next to it. She could hear the thrumming of Delphine’s drum from the other side of the beach.
Eloise pulled the cornmeal out of the pack and slowly poured thin lines out, reconstructing the drawing that Mary Margaret had shown them. That complete, she pulled out the leather rattle, stood and then started to dance, following the steps that Mary Margaret showed her.
“Agwe, god of the waters,” Eloise chanted, “I summon thee.”
As she danced and chanted she lost awareness of the things around her, her mind was focused solely on a connection with Agwe. The brush, the water, the sky, all melded together in a soft blue blur. She moved without thought, the chant became hypnotic and she felt as if her spirit were being lifted to another level.
She heard soft laughter behind her, she slowed her dance steps and slowly chanted one last time, “Agwe, god of the waters, I summon thee.”
She turned and saw Jean-Henri standing behind her on the beach. He was wearing a red and white striped shirt and bright blue sailor’s trousers.
“Jean-Henri,” Eloise said, worried that in some way Delphine was able to pull spirits back from the next life. “What happened? Why are you here?”
Jean-Henri chuckled. “Bonjour, ange. Il fait beau. Do you remember, this is what I say to you when we first meet? Hello, Angel, nice weather we are having.”
Eloise shook her head in confusion. “Yes, I remember, but I do not understand.”
Jean-Henri shrugged, “Je vous ai dit mensonge. How you say, I told you a little lie.”
“You lied to me?” Eloise said.
“Un peu,” Jean-Henri said, holding his thumb and forefinger slightly apart. “Just a little one.”
“And what was that lie?” Eloise asked.
“I am not Jean-Henri, I am Agwe,” he said.
Eloise eyes widened. “You are the god, Agwe. But why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you help?”
Jean-Henri shook his head. “I could not help unless you called for me,” he explained. “I could only warn you.”
“And now, what can you do for me?” she asked.
“I can help you. I can remove Yemanja so she cannot help the evil one.”
Eloise breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you, yes, please remove Yemanja.”
Jean-Henri shook his head. “First, I need a sacrifice. I cannot help you without some kind of offering.”
“What do you need? What do you want?”
Jean-Henri chuckled. “Mon ami, it is not wise to ask a god what he wants, he might take more than you are willing to give.”
Eloise looked around wildly, “But I don’t know what I can give you,” she said.
Suddenly an object flew out of the brush from behind Eloise. It hit the soft ground and rolled a few times before stopping at Eloise’s feet. She picked it up and held it out to Jean-Henri.
Jean-Henri took it from Eloise’s hands and slowly examined it. “This is very interesting,” he said, “What do you call this?”
“A tape measure,” Eloise replied.
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p; Jean-Henri looked up from the tape measure, “And this is of value to you?”
Eloise nodded. “Yes, I don’t know what I would do without my tape measure. It is of great value to me.”
Jean-Henri smiled, “Then it will do. And now, only one more request.”
“Yes?”
“Donne-moi un petit bec doux, cher!” he said, leaning over and placing a kiss on her cheek. “A little kiss before I go.”
Eloise smiled at him, “Thank you.”
“Non la petit, thank you for your bravery,” he said and then leaned forward and whispered into her ear. “Go to your lover quickly. Delphine will be angry very soon. Remember, cher, you must believe in your love, it has great power.”
He stepped back and smiled, and then his body slowly became like sea mist and drifted towards where Delphine was performing her spell.
Eloise turned towards the brush the tape measure had come from.
“Sally? Is that you?” she called.
Sally and Turner climbed out from behind the bushes. Eloise ran up and gave Sally a hug. “Thank you, you are amazing. Both of you,” she said, including Turner in her smile.
“Okay, what’s next?” Sally asked, “How can we help?”
“Delphine is on the other side of the beach and she is going to be angry very soon. After she follows me to the plantation, could you please go to the synthesizer, turn off whale song and switch is to something else?”
“What?” Sally asked. “What should I switch it to?”
Eloise shrugged. “I don’t know. I never studied repelling spirits. Just play something that would chase you out of a room if it were played.”
“Yes, ma’am, we’ll figure something out,” Turner said.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Eloise turned, ran over the rise and across the lawn. She entered the front door of the plantation, switching on her headband light as she ran she dashed through the hall and down the stairs. She found Maria still hovering over him.
“I stayed with him, but I am too weak to help,” Maria said.
Eloise pushed through the mud and went to Paul.
She knelt next to him and ran her hands over his forehead. “Paul, Paul, can you hear me?” she called. She shifted her hands down to his neck and felt for a pulse. She could feel it there – weak, but still beating. She searched his body, looking for obvious signs of broken bones or external injuries and could find none. Even a concussion was unlikely because of the way he landed in the mud.
She wondered if his coma-like state had been induced by Delphine, not by any physical problems. She thought back to Jean-Henri and his advice. She slid her hands down and cupped his face in her hands; she lowered her lips to his. “Oh, Paul, please forgive me for not trusting us enough.”
She kissed him, gently rubbing her lips against his. After a few moments, she felt his lips move beneath hers, felt his head tilt slightly and take the kiss deeper. Large mud covered arms slipped around her waist and he pulled her down on top of him. After a few moments she pulled back and smiled down on him.
“Hi,” she whispered, devouring his face with her eyes.
“Hi yourself,” he said, sliding muddy hands up her back, “Thanks for bringing me back.”
“Where were you?” she asked, brushing his hair from his forehead.
“I don’t know if it was a place as much as a state of being,” he said, “I felt like I was in a coma, trapped within my own body. It wasn’t until you kissed me that I could move again.
“Like Sleeping Beauty,” Eloise smiled.
He lifted his head and kissed her quickly.
“You know, Sally mentioned there is often truth found in fairy tales,” he said.
Suddenly Delphine’s scream echoed throughout the house.
“Well, let’s hope that love conquers all,” Eloise said. “Can you stand up?”
Paul nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
The door to the cellar crashed open and Delphine glided down the stairs. Her eyes were glowing with madness as she circled around them, her voice echoing with rage. Eloise shivered at the evil emanating from Delphine.
“You deceived me,” Delphine yelled. She waved her arm and a set of shelves along one wall came crashing down onto the floor. “And now you will die.”
Eloise and Paul wrapped their arms around each other.
“No, you can’t hurt us,” Eloise cried. “We have too much power.”
Delphine sent another set of shelves soaring across the room and glided up to them. “You don’t believe that, do you?” she asked slyly, “You can’t believe someone like this man would be interested in a woman like you?”
Eloise confidence wavered and Delphine smiled.
“He could have so many women,” Delphine continued, “So many beautiful, sophisticated women. Why would he want you?”
An iron pot slowly glided off a shelf and flew towards Eloise’s head.
Paul tightened his hold on Eloise and whispered, “I love you, believe me.”
Eloise took a deep breath and smiled. The pot dropped to the ground. She turned to Delphine and shrugged, “I just know that he loves me. And the power of our love is stronger than your power of hate.”
Delphine raised her arms and sent the shelves that surrounded Paul and Eloise down on their heads. Eloise turned to Paul. “Kiss me, darling,” she said.
Paul grinned, “My pleasure.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her with tenderness, with love and with confidence. The shelves started to sway towards them, but then uprighted themselves.
Delphine screamed, “No!”
She waved her arms and created a whirlwind in the cellar, lifting an assortment of tools, bottles, chairs and boxes into the air, swirling dangerously towards Eloise and Paul. Eloise moved slightly away, slowly stroked her hand up Paul’s cheek and looked up into his eyes. “Have I mentioned that I love you with all my heart?” she asked.
“Eloise,” he breathed, pulling her into his arms again and kissing her with an intensity that answered her question.
The whirlwind diminished and the objects fell harmlessly to the ground.
Delphine screamed again and, with her fists clutched in frustration, glided up the cellar stairs.
Eloise and Paul pulled apart; Paul rested his forehead against hers and looked intently into her eyes. “Never doubt, no matter what she says. Never doubt that I love you.”
Eloise smiled, “I promise.”
Paul kissed her tenderly on the cheek. “So, what’s next, boss?
“Can you walk?” Eloise asked. “We should get outside to help Sally and Turner set up phase two of the plan.”
Paul was stunned. “What are those two doing here?”
Eloise smiled, “Coming to the rescue.”
Paul found that his ankle was at least sprained, if not broken, so he leaned on Eloise to help him get up the stairs and out of the house.
They came out the front door and immediately heard Sally’s choice in music for chasing away spirits.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive. Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive.
The Bee Gees familiar falsetto blasted across the plantation grounds. Eloise turned and smiled at Sally who was looking up into one of the attic windows of the house.
“Ma’am, I told her that this wasn’t the right music,” Turner explained, running up to help Paul negotiate the stairs.
Eloise looked out over the lawn; sure enough the spirits that had been drawn to the plantation by the whale song were now moving away from the house.
Eloise shrugged. “Well, Sergeant it certainly seems to be working.”
Eloise walked over to the synthesizer and switched it off. Sally turned to Eloise.
“Hey, what happened to the two of you,” she said, “You look like you’ve been mud wrestling.”
“We’ll explain it later,” Eloise said.
“Much later,” Paul agreed.
“Did Delphine pass through here?” Eloise asked.<
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Sally nodded. “Yeah, she went flying through here out towards the willow grove.”
“Great,” said Eloise, “That’s just where we want her.”
They packed the equipment into the back of the SUV and climbed in for the short ride to the gazebo.
“If it’s all the same to you,” Sally said, “I’ll meet you at the gazebo. There’s someone I need to check on.”
Eloise glanced up and saw the little girl who had helped them the last time they were there. She nodded, “Yeah, let them know it will be safe for them to come to the gazebo.”
Sally smiled. “I will.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Eloise could tell even the short car ride to the gazebo across the uneven lawn was painful for Paul. She laid her hand over his. “You going to make it?” she asked.
He turned his hand and entwined his fingers with hers. “Yeah, we’re almost finished here.”
Turner unloaded the equipment and Eloise helped Paul up the steps of the gazebo. “Save me a spot,” she said, turning and helping Turner set up the equipment.
Once again the familiar strains of whale songs echoed from the synthesizer. Eloise watched as the spirits who had only been dead a short time approached the gazebo. She turned to Paul. “Okay, its time to kick it into high gear,” she smiled, slipping her arms around his neck.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Then he slid one hand slowly up her back, finally threading his fingers through her hair. He kissed her and she responded, but it was obvious that her mind was on all the things that were going on around them.
Paul pulled back and looked deeply into Eloise’s eyes.
“I want you to think of me and only me,” Paul said, “You’re not here, Eloise, you’re with me on a secluded island somewhere. It’s only you and me.”
She smiled. “A secluded beach? That sounds nice.”
Paul softly stroked her face. “Having you all to myself sounds nice. Now, can you just focus on us, and leave the rest of this behind?”
Eloise nodded and focused on her love for him. He trailed kisses along her cheek and jaw line, while softly caressing her back. He nipped at the sensitive spot where her neck met her collarbone and she trembled. He took her lips in a demanding kiss, coaxing them open so he could taste her sweetness.