I decided to focus on the positives, and there were many. I was lucky and had landed in a group of great people who had become my friends. That in itself was remarkable. When I first met Bob and Jane, I thought that I had a very good chance of dying on that weekend. I remembered feeling guilty about my family losing me. I guess the joke was on me because I ended up losing them instead.
I know that my death was considered very carefully that weekend. Mike wanted to kill me. Bob and Jane wanted me to live. Paul was on the fence. It was still my belief that Frankie saved my life.
She is an amazing person. She is extraordinarily beautiful and a talented artist. She made two paintings for me and refused payment. She delivered them to my apartment and spent a lot of time talking about her paintings. She and I had become friends.
One time when Frankie had been at my apartment a long time, Mike showed up wanting to know what was going on. I told him that I had received a painting from Frankie and she was explaining her ideas behind the painting. He looked at the painting and saw only a picture. I saw feelings. The painting pulled me into the scene and gave me great feelings of hope and rejuvenation. It was a scene in a forest in the spring time when the wild flowers were in bloom. There were some shadows in the painting alluding to the possibility of evil. I loved the painting and I loved to hear Frankie talk about painting it. Frankie had painted it specifically for me. I tried to explain to Mike how deeply the painting affected me. I think I half convinced him. Some generous glasses of Bob’s brandy worked on the half that wasn’t convinced.
The painting told me that Frankie knew a lot about what had happened in The Woods that day. She understood it and she understood me. The painting had deep emotions embedded in it. Strangely it didn’t remind me of the event or depress me. Just the opposite; it gave me hope for a better day. I guess that is why I liked the painting so much. I am sure that is the message that Frankie was sending me with the painting.
Frankie was one of the surprise characters in the group. She was smart and excelled at judging the character of people. She had a tough childhood, which she refused to talk about. I always enjoyed talking with her. She was an excellent artist and a good friend.
And my job at Bob’s company was another unbelievable development. It was a job that I loved and I got paid more money than I ever dreamed of making. Along with the truck garden I was living better than a king.
The wild card in the deck was Lydia. She was another surprise character. I had not come to terms with her. We ate meals together but that was mainly because I hated being alone. At least that is what I told myself. It was also an excuse to cook some decent food. It was always better to be cooking for more than one person.
Interestingly, it took Lydia a while to accept the painting from Frankie. Lydia accused me of being in the woods with Frankie looking for wild flowers. It took me hours to convince Lydia otherwise. I hadn’t thought about it before but now I wondered why Lydia cared so much whether I had been with Frankie looking for wild flowers.
I missed my family and previous life but to be honest I was well set up in the mountains of West Virginia. We were an unusual and great group of friends.
I was deep in thought when I had the sensation that someone was calling my name. Finally, I realized it was Lydia, trying to get my attention.
She said, “Wow. Where were you? You seemed to be a million miles away.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I was. Sorry.”
“I was just trying to ask you over to my apartment when we get back.”
At first I thought I hadn’t heard this right. Maybe I had fallen asleep and was dreaming. I was stunned. I said, “I would love that but I am okay. You don’t have to do anything for me tonight.”
She said, “I have several kinds of cheeses and crackers that you like. I have sweet green grapes that you like plus lots of other fruit. I have the olives that you like. I have a bottle of white wine that I know you like. And I have a bottle of Bob’s brandy. If that isn’t enough food, I can fix peanut butter sandwiches or toast.”
I noticed that there was no food cooked by Lydia. I said, “I had a lot to eat at Bill’s house. I don’t need much food. The wine, cheese, crackers and fruit sound great and I never turned down an olive.”
I moved around in my seat to see if I was awake. Conversations like this could be the results of a dream. I discovered that I was awake.
She had to have been planning this for some time because she had all the food lined up. I knew that Bob had flown up to get her and flew her to Ohio. So how did she get the food to her apartment? She must have had Momma deliver it to The Cabin. Or maybe Bob was in on the scheme. Bob or Momma wouldn’t be allowed in her apartment so the food must be in the general kitchen. It was a mystery. I would find out when we got to The Cabin.
Bob and the others had left Lydia in Ohio to ride back with me. Whose idea was that? Lydia claimed it was the group’s idea. Lydia had been planning this all along. She had stayed in Ohio to be with me. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.
I couldn’t move much in my seat. The Lexus was small for me. I really needed a truck but I didn’t like driving a truck on trips and to certain social functions. I spread out as much as I could. I usually rode with an arm on the center console with my hand on the shift lever. It gave me a little more room.
I was mulling things over when I felt something soft on my hand. It felt like a butterfly had landed on my hand. I looked and Lydia had put her hand on top of my hand. I looked at her and she gave me a smile that sent my nerves tingling throughout my body. It reminded me of the time I first met her and shook her hand. I smiled back.
Clearly something was going on. Katherine’s words came back to me. Maybe she was right.
I relaxed. For the first time in a year I felt like I was going home.
Acknowledgments
I thank Cynthia Henrich for her excellent professional editing. She actually knows what she is doing and that helps. She also did a great job catching story line errors.
I thank Ron Temple, a fellow writer, for many fruitful discussions, comments, editing and encouragement.
I thank Jerry Russell for being there and editing.
I thank Ron Collins, a fellow author, for ideas on how to be an author.
I thank Arni/Smokey, The Cat, for listening to me read out loud while editing. It served as moral support even though I don’t remember any editing comments per se from him. And I was so glad he didn’t attack me for reading aloud, which he hated. He gave me a disagreeable look instead.
Having said all this, I take full responsibility for any remaining errors. Sometimes I change things when people aren’t looking and I suspect The Cat did some typing.
A Shadow of Death in The Woods Page 33