by Sam Stone
‘I suppose it was brought on by the excitement,’ Sally said, trying to think logically and behave like a grown-up. ‘And this house is so big. It’s kind of scary. But I’m happy to stay in Mother’s room from now on. If that’s all right with you?’
‘Of course, dear,’ Mother said. ‘They seem to be late sleepers in this household.’
I agreed with her absently, but was grateful for the staff waiting around to serve us breakfast. One of the girls brought in a plate with fried eggs, fresh white bread, some cooked ham and a small plate of cakes, which Sally rapidly tucked into.
Sally consumed a copious amount of freshly squeezed orange juice, cakes and ham as though nothing odd had happened at all the night before and so I began to think that maybe she had imagined it. But the night had been a restless one for me too. Filled with peculiar dreams and floating images.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Pepper said joining us. ‘It’s unlike me to sleep in so late.’
‘Something in the air. Our hosts haven’t emerged yet either,’ I said.
I could tell that Pepper hadn’t slept too well though. He had dark circles under his eyes.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked.
‘Strange dreams …’ he said. ‘I didn’t sleep as restfully as I would have liked. I thought I heard drums.’
‘Really? Me too,’ I said looking around to see if we were being observed. ‘I need to talk to you … but not here.’
Pepper nodded.
After breakfast I fetched a wide-brimmed hat from my room and Pepper and I went out for a walk. It was hot outside but there was a cool breeze and I knew it would be pleasant to take stock of the land around us.
‘I’ll meet you outside,’ I said to Mother as she took Sally back to their room to supervise the transfer of Sally’s things. ‘We’ll be in the garden somewhere.’
Pepper offered me his arm, which surprised me, but I took it anyway. Then we strolled out through the open drawing room doors onto the large lawn.
‘So … what did you dream about?’ asked Pepper.
‘Demons … the usual,’ I shrugged.
‘I didn’t know you had nightmares.’
‘I don’t mostly. Just sometimes.’
‘You said you heard drums?’ Pepper said.
‘Yes. The sound woke me up. I thought I’d imagined it until you said you’d heard them too.’
‘It’s indeed strange.’
‘Also, I’m concerned about last night. If Sally says she saw something, then it’s likely she did.’
‘But she’s just said it was a dream.’
‘I think we can probably rule that out. Although, I did briefly consider it was the truth. Something isn’t right here. We’ve been around this stuff long enough to know when something is wrong, haven’t we? I can sense it. It’s like …’
‘What …?’
I shrugged, finding the sensation difficult to explain. But the uneasiness continued that morning, a feeling of unreality surrounded Pollitt Plantation and it was like nothing I had experienced before. As though by being on their land we had been surrounded by some form of cocoon that separated us from the outside world.
‘I don’t know,’ I said finally. ‘Perhaps I’m just so used to being a city girl. This place feels …’
‘Like we’re in the middle of a void?’ Pepper finished.
‘Yes.’
‘Maybe we should speak to some of the house servants. Ask them if they’ve seen anything strange? Particularly this dark figure that Sally saw.’
‘Good plan. Pepper?’
‘Yes, Kat?’
‘I know there’s something very wrong here. I can’t define it. It’s just a feeling I have.’
‘I have the same feeling,’ Pepper said. ‘There’s Orlando, of course …’
‘Yes. But he seems … benign. I don’t think he even knows what he is.’
‘Is that possible?’
‘The neph we killed back home said a lot of them didn’t know what they were. At the time I was thinking he was just trying to save his own neck. Now, I’m not so sure. It seems unlikely that Orlando knows anything. Isn’t it possible that if something is half-demon and half-human that the human side could be dominant, not the demon side?’
‘I suppose so. But we know that most things demon related are usually drawn to the Darkness. But what about Big Momma? Does she know that a demon seduced her? Or was she somehow tricked into thinking Big Daddy was Orlando’s father.’
I was quiet for a moment. ‘She’s very flirtatious. Perhaps … Do you think perhaps she had an affair, but didn’t know the man was a demon?’
‘It would explain why Dig Daddy barely acknowledges Orlando is in the room,’ Pepper said.
‘You noticed that too, huh?’
‘Why good morning,’ called a voice across the lawn.
Pepper and I turned to find Orlando strolling towards us as though he knew we were talking about him.
‘Good morning,’ Pepper said solemnly.
I let Orlando take my hand and watched him bow over my fingers. He was a picture of formality, yet his home was filled with secrets and inconsistencies.
‘You’re going riding?’ I observed, his clothing was a cross between cowboy and plantation owner. A mix of formal and informal.
‘Just returned. I’m something of an early riser. I like to ride in the morning. It helps clear my head for the day. I hope you slept well.’ Orlando glanced back at the house. ‘I don’t always sleep too well when I first arrive here … All the excitement I guess. It will be better this evening though I’m sure. And now I had better change for the day. I know Big Momma has some kind of garden party planned, with a few of the local plantation owners coming to call. Miss Kat, Mr Pepper …’
Orlando tapped his wide-brimmed hat and bowed his head but as he turned I caught hold of his arm.
‘Why didn’t you sleep well?’ I asked.
Orlando’s expression told me he was a little taken aback by my bluntness.
‘It’s probably just the heat …’ he said but somehow I didn’t believe him. ‘But …’
‘Yes?’
‘Nothing …’
‘Was it the drums?’ I said.
Orlando shrugged and as my hand slipped away from his arm he bowed his head and walked away.
The day passed quickly and aside from the pleasant garden party, uneventfully, but as evening approached a strange disquiet descended on the house. I returned to my room to change for the evening and as I approached, found my door open. I could hear Milly and one of the other servant girls talking as they were preparing my bath. They were unaware that I entered as they sloshed hot buckets of water into the tub.
‘He’s mighty disturbed,’ said Milly. ‘Can’t you feel it?’
‘Hush up, now. You might bring that old thing in here to listen in,’ said the other girl.
‘Now Celia. You know Simone say that he only interested in the doings of white folks …’
‘I don’t care what he interested in. I done seen more of that ghost since the girl arrived … he attracted to ’em as they growing …’ Celia said.
I slid closer to the door, hoping to hear more. I could see the girls through the crack in the door now. Milly was facing the door, Celia was leaning over the bath.
‘It be fine, she safe now she in with her Momma …’ Milly said. Then her eyes flickered towards the door. ‘Why, Miss Kat, you back here and just in time for your bath.’
I saw a small guilt blush colour Milly’s cheeks as she noticed me. Celia scurried out of the room and quickly away.
‘Thank you, Milly. I’m so ready for some time alone,’ I said.
I let her help me out of the cotton dress I’d been wearing for most of the day.
‘I hung out the dress you indicated this morning,’ Milly said pointing to a beautiful lilac gown that hung over the door of the wardrobe. ‘It’s real pretty.’
I went into the bathroom, removed my chemise and slipped into the wa
ter. It was the perfect temperature for a hot night, warm but not too much, and I listened to Milly bustling around the room preparing everything to help me dress again.
As I washed away the perspiration of the day, things suddenly went quiet in the room next door.
‘Milly?’ I asked. ‘Are you all right in there?’
When she didn’t answer I assumed that she had merely left the room for a while to fetch something. Still feeling shy about being naked around her, I climbed out of the bath and picked up the large towel that she had left folded on the small bureau in the room. I wrapped it around myself. The towel was big enough to cover me twice. It felt warm and soft.
I walked back into the bedroom. The door to the corridor was closed, though the balcony doors were open slightly to let in the cool night air. I rubbed myself dry, then reached for my clean chemise, dropping it over my head in one practiced move. As I began to button the front of the under-dress I became aware of the lack of light in the room. Goosebumps broke out over my arms. The hair stood up on the nape of my neck.
On instinct I looked around for my bag of weapons, then remembered I had stowed them in the bottom of the wardrobe.
I hurried towards the cupboard, then saw a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look directly at the door. A black void spread across the room, blocking my view of the door. I opened the wardrobe without taking my eyes away from the shadow, and felt inside for my carpet bag. What manner of demon was this that could dampen the light from one corner of the room to the other? It was as though it covered it, or maybe the light shunned it. I wasn’t sure which.
My hand fell on the bag and I pulled it out, never taking my eyes away from the shadow.
Still keeping my eyes on the blur, I reached inside the bag. I felt around among my weapons. My fingers caressed the clockwork operated cross-bow, the semi-automatic laser pistol, and more importantly the back-pack tank that held over a hundred small bullets that I could load into the reconditioned Remington 1958, which was a beautiful, brutal and efficient automatically loading gun, designed by Martin when we were trapped in Tiffany’s jewellery store fending off a horde of zombies. The bullets contained diamond shards – the hardest substance you can imagine – and when fired from the weapon they tore up anything in its path. I passed over the gun though. I knew this weapon would be useless against a being that failed to have substance. My fingers scrambled around and fell on my boot knife. A silver blade, tempered with diamonds. Probably worth more than a lot of the obscene jewellery that the Pollitt women seemed to favour. And maybe it could be a deterrent. Silver, Pepper, Martin and I had observed, was repellent to most demonic creatures. We didn’t know why … it just was – and as for diamonds. They didn’t seem to like those that much either.
I pulled out the knife.
‘Show yourself, freak,’ I said holding the blade before me.
The blur moved again. It shifted away from the door and at that moment, Milly chose to return to the room.
Milly came to a halt on the threshold. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as though an intense cold wind had just blown over her. Her eyes shifted around the room, showing far more white than I would have thought possible as they widened and came to rest on the blur. She could see it too! She gasped, then clapped her hands across her mouth as though she were afraid to make a sound that might draw attention to herself as she backed away.
The blur spread over the back of the room, slid across the bed, and rushed towards the balcony.
I tracked it, knife in hand, until it disappeared out into the night. I hurried towards the doors and looked outside. Nothing stirred. The lawn was lit up for the evening, and I could see a row of carriages driving towards the house.
‘It’s gone,’ I called to Milly.
She peered in through the door at me. Wide-eyed, afraid.
‘Get in here,’ I ordered.
The girl rushed to obey. Coming inside the room warily, before closing the door behind her.
I indicated the edge of the bed. ‘Sit down.’
Milly stared at the knife in my hand. Suddenly her fear switched from the shadow and became focused on the blade and on me. I reached into the carpet bag and pulled out the sheath. I slid the knife in, and placed it back into the bag.
‘What was that?’ I said nodding my head towards the balcony.
‘I don’t know …’ she stammered.
‘You and Celia were talking about it …’ I prompted.
‘Oh lordy!’ Milly said, and then she dissolved into sobs. ‘I can’t. I can’t talk about … it … him …’
‘Milly, do I look like an ordinary woman to you?’
‘Why … yes … of course …’
‘Do ordinary women carry weapons?’
Milly glanced at the carpet bag then back at me. ‘Weapons, Miss?’
‘I’m a demon slayer, Milly. And you need to tell me everything you know about that thing we both just saw … Because … I’m probably the only person around here that can help you get rid of it for good.’
Milly shook her head, ‘I didn’t see nothin’ Miss Kat, only you, pointing that knife at me. I didn’t see nothin’ …’
8
‘It’s so wonderful having you all here,’ Maggie said taking my hand. ‘I was thinking that you might help me persuade Henry to let us come and visit you in New York. I’ve never been there, and I think it will do us some good.’
‘Mother and I would love that,’ I said.
Isaac appeared with a silver tray and offered us a glass of something long and cloudy.
‘What is this?’ I asked.
‘It’s lemonade with gin,’ Maggie explained. ‘Isaac, I hope you prepared a non-alcoholic glass for Miss Sally?’
Isaac nodded. ‘Of course, Miss Maggie.’
At that moment a gaggle of small boys ran into the room. I soon learnt that these were Amelia and Michel’s children. The grandchildren that Big Daddy had spoken of the evening before. We hadn’t seen them all day or the evening before and so their presence surprised me.
Maggie frowned when she saw them. ‘Nanny Simone keeps them out of everyone’s way most of the time. They are … a little spoilt and badly behaved.’
‘We came to sing a goodnight song to Big Daddy,’ one of the obnoxious boys said, while another one picked his nose and smeared the contents he extracted over the arm of his younger brother.
The boys sang their song, which was hopelessly out of tune, then they played noisily in the corner of the room. Big Momma patted and petted them until eventually Nanny Simone came to take them all away again. I caught the eye of Amelia as she watched her boys taken by the nanny. She was smiling proudly, but there was something else in her expression that told me she was also deliberately flaunting the children in front of Maggie.
‘It will be your turn soon enough,’ said Big Momma sliding up to Maggie. ‘Maybe you’ll give us a girl. A nice granddaughter that I can spoil with beautiful things. Boys are wonderful, but they tend to be so mischievous. Why look at how adorable Miss Sally is? She’s all grown-up and ladylike. Yes, Maggie. I would really like you to have a daughter soon.’
‘Well I won’t have much say on that, Momma,’ Maggie said. She laughed but the sound was flat and it seemed to be a real effort for her to sustain.
Big Momma was called away to some other distant cousin who had joined us that night.
‘Not much chance of that though, hey Maggie?’ said Amelia.
Her smile was cruel. I was positive that it was her I had seen outside Henry and Maggie’s room the night before. Why she was there I could only guess, but I liked her less every day.
‘You know Big Daddy wants an heir from you, Cherie,’ Amelia continued.
‘Well Maggie and Henry are newlyweds. What’s the rush? There’s plenty of time yet,’ I said.
Amelia and Maggie exchanged glances. There was a subtext that I didn’t understand and had no right to interfere with.
‘I don’
t care about inheriting the plantation,’ Maggie said suddenly.
‘That’s just as well,’ said Amelia. ‘With the husband you picked …’
Amelia walked off and I stared after her as I realised that this growing antagonism between them might be about money, rather than just sibling rivalry.
‘What is it with her?’ I asked.
Maggie turned away and said nothing, but I followed her gaze and saw that she was staring across the room at Big Daddy. She seemed lost and I wished that I knew her enough to actually become a confidante. If I knew what the problem was, maybe I could help.
‘Maggie, I want you to know you can … tell me anything …’
Maggie’s eyes were sad, but she forced a smile on her face. ‘Whatever are you talking about? Pay no mind to Amelia. She always taunts me. Some folks around here resent anyone from the North. They blame their own misfortunes on them. But the truth is Amelia and Michel … they should have reformed their land like Big Daddy did. They would still have all the money and privilege they once had.’
‘You’re saying that Amelia and Michel are … not as wealthy as they appear?’
‘Kat, they have been foolish, and Michel … he’s not too good with money and cards … But I don’t like to gossip. But I just wanted to …’
‘Reassure me that nothing was wrong with you and Henry?’
Maggie blushed. ‘Why ever would you think there was?’
I hugged her, saw the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes and quickly changed the subject. Now was not the time, but Maggie clearly needed a friend.
‘Kat?’ Pepper said interrupting us. ‘Would you care to take an evening stroll with me?’
I was a little surprised that Pepper had even asked, but as I met his eyes I knew he had something to tell me that he didn’t want anyone else to hear.
‘Dinner won’t be long,’ Maggie said. ‘In fact, I need to go and find Henry. He hasn’t come down yet.’
Once outside I told Pepper about my sighting of the shadow, or ghost, or whatever it was and about the conversation I had heard Milly and Celia have.
‘And she wouldn’t tell you anything at all?’ Pepper said.