“I think I could spare a few minutes, and could definitely use some coffee. I didn’t take any with me when I left this morning. Maybe it will help me stay awake through my math class later,” she replied.
Holding the door open, John smiled and asked, “Shall we?”
John’s smile captivated her and from that moment on. Katy spent the better part of the morning talking with John. Over the following weeks and months, she flipped completely head over heels for John Smith.
Ensnared by his charm, Katy could not hope to escape from her trance, nor did she want to. Not only was he incredibly attractive, but also very intelligent. Two years prior, he had graduated magna cum laude with a degree in history and pre-law studies, and now he was in his second year in the College of Law at the University of Maine. John’s dream was to become an attorney like his late father.
It was a fortunate accident when Katy dropped her books that day. From that day forward, John and Katy were inseparable. She would never have thought she would be dating someone for six years, and still not be married. He had yet to pop the question, although John and Katy had spoken about marriage multiple times over the years.
John was adamant that he wanted to earn a good living before getting married. His goal was to be able to support their family on his income, so that she could stay home with their kids if she wanted. Since he had earned the promotion to district attorney, Katy anticipated that he would give her a ring any day, because they had been already talking about the idea of getting married for months.
What better way to make this Christmas extra special than for John to ask me to marry him? Katy hoped that John would take advantage of one of the upcoming festive holiday ocassions to ask her. She had already bought a beautiful deep blue dress for the upcoming New Year’s Ball that was held every year.
I can’t wait to get my new dress altered today! she thought to herself.
In the driveway, the car started as Julie Warsaw, honked the horn. Suddenly, the jolting sound grasped Katy’s mind, returning it to reality. Regaining her composure, she kissed the picture of her ‘true love’ and placed it back on the vanity. She quickly picked up a pair of diamond earrings and put them on.
Realizing her mother was probably starting to lose her patience, she put her cell phone in her purse as she grabbed it. Taking her new party dress off the closet door, she carefully draped it over her arm and hurried out of the room and down the stairs.
Stretched out on the sofa in the family room, her fifteen-year-old brother was assuming his usual position. A large teen with untidy blonde hair, Jason Warsaw was eating a large bowl of cereal as he propped his feet on the coffee table. Not only was he overweight, but incredibly lazy.
Katy glared at him. “Jason, I’ll see you this afternoon.”
With a full mouth, he spoke up. “Hope you can fit in your dress.”
Katy thumped him on top of his head as he was taking another bite of cereal. Jason missed his mouth, causing a spoonful of milk and colored cereal rings to spill onto the front of his shirt.
“Just wait. I’m going to get you back, sis!” Jason forewarned.
Laughing at her brother, Katy hung her dress from the top of the door long enough to slip on her red leather jacket and button it tightly. After draping her purse over her shoulder, she picked her dress back up, careful not to crease it. Opening the door, she shouted back at him, “Sure you will; if you ever get your big butt off that couch.”
Katy walked out the front door and slammed it behind her. Holding her dress up several inches off the ground, she carefully walked to the car, where her mother was waiting, tight-lipped and agitate. Katy hung the dress in the back seat and then got into the front seat of the sedan. She pulled down the sun visor and peered into the mirror to examine her hair.
“Oh, Mom, it’s just an alteration appointment.”
“Yes, Katherine, for once in my life, I would like to be on time, if that’s okay with you?”
Brushing a stray strand of blonde hair away from her face, Julie Warsaw put the car in reverse, and backed out of the driveway. She turned onto Route 17, accelerating right away to quickly conquer the five-mile drive to town. Their quaint, black shuttered Cape Cod home slowly disappeared in the reflection of the mirror.
Through green eyes, Katy gazed out the window at the steadfast lighthouse as it beamed its constant signal out to sea. Pondering her eminent future, she smiled then turned toward her mother.
“Do you know when he’s going to finally ask you to marry him? It has been a number of years. You’re finished with all of your schooling already. What is the hold-up?” Julie asked her daughter.
“We’ve talked about it, but I think he’s going to plan something special to officially ask me.”
“He’d better do it soon, or some other man is going to try to sweep you off your feet,” Julie teased.
Katy laughed and replied, “I love John and no one could change that as long as he keeps treating me the way he does. He makes me feel special.”
“Because you are special,” Julie replied.
Katy smiled and said, “Once he finally does ask me and we finally get married, I hope John and I are as happy as you and Daddy are.”
The corners of Julie’s mouth curled up slightly as she smiled back at her daughter. I hope you are too, Julie thought to herself. “Marriage isn’t as easy as it may seem sometime. You have to continually work to keep your relationship fulfilling and alive. Never forget that, Katy. It’s worth it if you do.”
Smiling, Katy replied, “I’ve got some great parents to whom I can always ask advice from. I know things aren’t always a bed of roses, but I see how you and Daddy work things out when you have disagreements. I’ll try to work on our relationship the same way you have, Mom.”
Katy pushed the tuning button on the radio until she found her favorite station, and then scanned the beautiful view surrounding her. The glistening white snow that had been such a fierce threat the night before, now covered everything in sight like a fresh clean sheet. Maine’s frosty winters, incredibly relaxing springs, fabulous autumn foliage, and mild summers had captivated Katy since she was a little girl. She couldn’t bear the thought of living anywhere else.
One by one, Katy and her mom passed several houses on their way in to town. As they rounded the last curve of the road before reaching the town limits, the monastery and St. Francis Catholic School towered above the surrounding foothills. The historic campus dated back to the 1800s. Katy had always been enamored by the way that the sunlight reflected off the stained glass windows. Dozens of saints radiated from the morning sunbeams. The bright colors glimmering from the colored glass were a stark contrast to the gray stone walls.
Twice daily, once at noon and another at dusk, the eerie sounds of the tolling bell rang out across the valley. From the corner of the monastery, a tall statue representing Jesus Christ peered out over the campus from the bell tower. His outstretched arms inspired hope and peace to comfort the weary and lost.
In the garden below, a blanket of fog still rolled over the ground with misty tendrils reaching out for the hems of the Holy Mother’s robes. Posed in pious reflection, her marble eyes remained closed in quiet contemplation as she counted her rosary beads.
As they drove by, Katy’s attention was drawn to some lights strobing across the monastery walls. “I wonder what’s going on at the monastery.”
Glancing over at the campus, Julie said, “I hope no one is sick or hurt. I’d stop and check what’s going on, but we’re running late enough as it is.”
Suddenly, Katy screamed as she saw a fawn in the road. Grabbing the dash, she shouted, “Watch out!”
Julie slammed on the breaks, trying to keep the car from going off the road. “Oh, no! Hang on!”
A loud thump resounded as the small deer disappeared under the car. Both of their seat belts locked up, saving the women from being thrown into the windshield as Julie finally managed to get the car completely stopped.
Shaken, Julie turned to Katy and asked, “Honey, are you all right?”
Almost in shock, Katy replied, “Yes, I’m okay. Are you?”
“Yes, I think so.”
Julie and Katy got out of the car and ran up to the fawn, now laying perfectly still from the impact.
Katy asked while panting, “Is it dead?”
“I think so. Poor thing, we need to get her out of the road. I’ll grab the legs. You take the front. Okay on the count of three.”
The baby deer was slightly heavy and Katy stood up to stretch her aching back.
Seeing the crushed grill on the car, Katy shouted, “OOOHHH! Mom, your car!”
Julie turned her head. “Well, we are very lucky we aren’t hurt. If it had been a buck or a doe, the damage would have been a lot worse, sweetie. We could have been going to the hospital instead of getting your dress altered.”
Katy heard footsteps trudging through some dry leaves and branches sheltered by bushes in the woods. The sound caught her attention and she looked around to see where it was coming from.
Hearing the footsteps again, Katy whispered, “Mom, what’s that?” Then, noticing her filthy hands, she stood up and wiped them on her coat.
“I don’t hear anything, Katy. Come help me.”
Feeling remorseful that she didn’t react sooner, Katy’s mother placed her hands on her hips staring at the lifeless animal while assessing her situation.
Katy peered through thick, dark green foliage of the bushes and trees, straining to see what caused the noises. With shallow breaths, her body stiffened as a silent warning swept over every fiber of her being. The hairs on her arms and neck stood on end. Her hair flung over her face from the north wind as it whistled through the trees.
“Who’s there?” she called out.
Katy shielded her eyes with her hand, trying to peer as deeply into the woods as possible. Through the bushes and trees an almost imperceptible movement drew her attention. She squinted her eyes, trying to focus on a dark figure that was hiding deep within the foliage. Through the shadows, a pair of mysterious eyes glared at her. Katy swallowed hard as she began walking backwards towards the car where her mother was inspecting the damage.
“Katy, are you all right? What are you doing?”
Katy spun around and ran towards her yelling, “Mom, get in the car!”
Sensing her daughter’s fear, Julie hurried into the car and started the engine. After Katy got in the car, she pulled out on to the road, she asked, “Katy, what has gotten into you?”
Katy turned around in her seat and stared into the mirror. In the reflection, she saw a dark figure clothed in a nun’s habit shamble out on to the side of the road. The nun’s face was shadowed by the headpiece.
Fearing that the stranger might be a nun in distress, Katy began to tell her mother to stop. Just before speaking, she recognized that the unknown nun was holding a short-handled ax. Its gleaming edge was stained with what she suspected was blood.
Wide-eyed, she stared at the figure in hopes that it was just in her imagination. She closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again. The figure with its horrific weapon had vanished into the fog. Movement in the roadside brush was the only evidence that the figure had been there at all.
Gasping, Katy’s heart pounded as the sweat beaded on her upper lip and forehead. She turned around and sat back in her seat. Taking a deep breath, Katy leaned her head back against the headrest. She wanted to tell her mom, but feared she would just think she was being silly. After all, nuns walk the grounds all the time.
“Sweetie, I am going to call the seamstress, Emma, and tell her we are going to be late.”
“Mom, is your car safe to drive? That deer hit the front grill pretty hard.”
“I probably should get the front of my car looked at before we drive all the way over to the other side of the bay.”
“Do you think we can make it to Ed’s Garage or not, Mom? I bet if we call her, Aunt Jenny could probably meet us there and take us to Emma’s,” Katy replied as she turned her head and stared in the rear view mirror, looking for any more signs of that strange nun in the woods. Upon reaching the curve in the road, her fears subsided as she could no longer see where they had been.
“All right, Katy. I’ll call your Aunt Jenny and see if she could help us out. I’ll head to Ed’s right now. I don’t want to have any more bad luck today.”
Locating a safe place to pull off the road, Julie began to park well away from any traffic. Just as the car came to a stop, steam began to pour out from under the hood.
“Looks like you were right, Katy. Guess it’s worse than I had hoped. I’ll have to call for a tow now,” Julie remarked. Picking up her cell phone, she quickly made arrangements for her sister to come pick them up, and the car to be towed to Ed’s Garage.
CHAPTER 8
Later that morning, thoughts of the dark figure by the road still haunted Katy’s memory. Shutting her eyes tightly, she held a long deep breath and slowly exhaled. Feeling the stress slip away, the bindings of heaviness soon released their hold on her spirit. Adorned in a stunning royal blue dress, she promised herself to enjoy every moment no matter what she had seen earlier.
Turning her focus on wearing her new dress to the upcoming New Year’s Eve party, Katy felt excitement begin to well up inside her. As she stared at her reflection in the three-way mirror at the alterations shop, the ornately sewn sequins reflected small prisms of light all over the room. Only the dress’ length needed to be altered, so she could not help but admire how the tailored fabric hugged her figure perfectly.
Heavenly Hems was the only shop in Wattsville that specialized in alterations and custom sewing needs. Emma Campbell had started her alterations business in a quaint two-story house that she had inherited from her grandmother. The eighty-year-old home had white siding with dark red shutters and was surrounded by a wrap-around porch. Emma lived on the second floor with her calico cat named ‘Checkers.’
A stylish display was set up in the large front bay window. It resembled a small department store with several mannequins dressed in wedding attire, staring at passersby through vacant eyes. Sewing machines with bobbins, large rolls of fabric, and bundles of ribbon cluttered a few tables in the small store. In the corner, a solitary dressform waited on its floorstand with several tape measures draped around its neck.
“Please stand still. I’ll be done pinning your dress in just a few minutes.” Using her skills as an expert seamstress, Emma carefully inserted pins in the hem of Katy’s dress. Her short dark brown hair, teased in a wild array, perfectly matched her vibrant personality. Emma looked up at Katy’s mother with her golden-brown eyes and grinned. “What do you think, Julie?”
“It’s perfect,” she replied with a broad smile on her face.
With her hands, Katy smoothed the fabric over her hips, smiling with delight as she gazed in the mirrors. The hand-sewn sequins sparkled elegantly and flickered in the light.
“I think you need to wear your hair up, Katy. It shows off your beautiful face and green eyes,” Julie suggested.
Pulling her hair up in a makeshift bun, Katy replied, “I’ll have to play with different hairstyles to see what works, Mom.” Pausing for a moment to imagine the hairstyle possiblities, she stopped and smiled at her reflection. “Mom, what necklace do you think I should wear with it?”
Julie replied, “Do you remember that sapphire and diamond necklace that my grandmother left me?”
Katy’s eyes brightened as she recalled the full-carat sapphire pear-shaped necklace. The center stone was surrounded by small diamonds in a white gold setting. “Oh, Mom! That would be perfect!”
With a radiant glow on her face, Katy daydreamed while admiring herself in the mirror. When John sees me in this dress, he won’t be able to resist asking me to marry him. He won’t be able to help himself.
“You’re going to be gorgeous,” Emma commented in her strong New England accent. The fact that she was a native Ma
iner was evident when she stood up and spouted, “Okay, I’m done. You can step down and take it off now. Try not to prick yourself on the pins.” Emma held out her hand to assist Katy down from the small platform. “Here, let me help you down from there.”
As Katy proceeded to slip the dress off, one of the pins pricked her finger. “Ouch!” Katy squeezed blood from her index finger. “Hurry, Mom! Get a tissue! I don’t want to mess up my dress.”
Julie ran to get a tissue from the bathroom. Returning quickly, she said, “That’s a pretty bad jab.”
Examining it, Emma asked, “Need me to get a bandaid, Katy? I have some in the back. I prick my fingers all the time.”
“Yes, Emma. Thanks.” Katy’s eyes twinkled mischievously. The images she had conjured up in her mind only a few moments ago was definitely worth a little prick on her finger.
“You’re beaming, Katy. You must be thinking of John,” her mother deduced. “Well, hurry and get dressed so we can go get some lunch. What about The Maine Plate down the street? You like their food, don’t you?”
“Yes, that will be fine. We can walk there too; but before we go, I need to call John.”
* * * *
After getting changed in the dressing room and hanging up her beautiful dress, Katy quickly grabbed her purse and found a quiet corner down the hallway. Grabbing her cell phone, she took the opportunity to call John’s office.
“Good afternoon, District Attorney’s office. May I help you?” droned a feminine, nasally sounding voice.
“Hi, Linda. It’s Katy. May I speak to John, please?”
The receptionist, Linda Warden, smiled as she heard Katy’s voice, for they had become fast friends. “Katy, hold on and let me see if he is back from his meeting yet. I didn’t see him come in.”
Almost a full minute later, Linda came back on the line and said, “John’s out of the office, but I can forward the call to his cell if you like?”
Secrets in the Shallows (Book 1: The Monastery Murders) Page 6